Response to Zimbabwe Youth Council

My inbox has been inundated by messages from the Zimbabwe Youth Council questioning the motive of my well-researched article published by Nehanda news and that appeared on my blog (http//:no-rawedge.blogspot.com). They have even divorced themselves from the comments attributed to their Director, Livingston Dzikira.

Dzikira however has chosen to distance himself from what he said at a UNICEF organized workshop where I happened to be. It is such an impulsive culture of lies and deceit that makes one to wonder and question if at all his comments ruffled and exposed the credibility and independence of Zimbabwe Youth Council from external pressures. The youth council should note that it is not the media’s that their director carelessly commented on the issue, now that he has noticed the danger and damage of his comments; he decides to divorce himself from such comments so as to save his job. It is such culture that stifles to a standstill every prospect of innovation within the youth council.

I remain and maintain that the media comments attributed to him are factual and true. I however question why the Youth Council has chosen to make an aggressive follow up on such an article when it drags its feet on the audit and transparency of how the fund was disbursed. Many youth have sought audience with the youth council on how the fund was implemented but to date many haven’t got any satisfactory response if there was ever any. It leaves a lot of questions unanswered. What the Youth council , should be absorbed in is how they can carry out an audit of those who diverted and misused the funds, of course with consultation with Old Mutual and CABS, the other ‘partners’. Simply put, they must just explain themselves and stop seeking a redress from me.What is key is to give a detailed feedback to the ministry and youths on proposal requirements, the youths who benefited and draw up an all-inclusive youth plan that will be more transparent.

WHICH DEVELOPMENT HONOURABLE SITHEMBISO NYONI?

The recent story published by Newsday about the Minister of Small and Medium Enterprises and co-operative Development ,Sithembiso Nyoni,who is the MP for Nkayi North ,made sad reading. She called for a political rally in her constituency disguised as a “development” meeting.

This is not only a move by a misguided and an incompetent MP, but a telling example of someone who has lost the meaning of what it means to be a leader. The story made me sympathize with the people in her constituency who had walked for long distances on foot given the shortage of transport owing to a poor road network, with the hope that they were going to get funds for income generating projects. To their surprise, it turned out to be a ZANU PF political rally campaign. What still boggles my mind is why the honourable minister is not shameful for staging such a moronic gaffe, designed to take people for granted. For how long shall the people of Kana and Gokwe be taken for granted by successive politicians?

One after the other, over the years, they have neglected, abused Constituency Development Funds (CDF) at the expense of development in their constituencies. Nothing of significance has been done in Nyoni’s respective constituency. It is no news that Matebeleland North is underdeveloped. It is shocking now that many MP’s have made a beeline in the region to try and lure voters with impending pools looming. They do so under the sickening rhetoric of developing their constituencies.

What these brown-envelope seeking MP’s should be reminded is that the electorate has been shortchanged and cheated so many times. The community leaders in Nyoni’s constituency threatened to beat Nyoni because they are now tired of her sickening blatant lies. The electoral bell of change and defeat continues to toll for MP’s such as Sithembiso Nyoni.

The time is up especially for the masters of old school tricks and deception such as Sithembiso Nyoni( Nkayi North) Flora Buka(Gokwe Nembudziya),Mpukuta Lovemore(Gokwe –Mapfungautsi),Mushore Luke(Gokwe-Gumunyu),Ngwenya Busy(Gokwe-Kana),Sai ShaddyGokwe –Sengwa) and Sindi Cephas(Gokwe Chireya ,their eleventh hour is nigh. They have failed to transform Gokwe and Kana into a modern community with at least basic amenities during their terms in office. Some have made empty promises designed to gain Machiavellian mileage aimed at deceiving the electorate but this time around, they will be fail dismally. Theirs is going to be an electoral defeat that is going to put to an end to the suffering of people in Kana and Gokwe. Nkayi today resembles an ancient community with no basic amenities, a poor road system, few schools, and two hospitals.

The story in Nkayi is sad, many people walk for many kilometers to access the only missionary hospital, Kana Mission Hospital and the one in Nkayi, where there is shortage of staff, no drugs, where patients who are admitted to the hospital are required to bring their own food. That is not all, the mortuaries are dysfunctional, and the hospitals cannot access adequate anti-retroviral drugs owing to a dilapidated and poor road network. The roads are dusty from Nkayi town all the way to Gokwe Centre. This makes it difficult for people to access schools and hospitals etc.
Gokwe Centre is the only place where there are tarred roads; from there the roads become dusty. What it means is transport operators shun the Nkayi-Gokwe or Gokwe-Manoti route because of poor road network and high operating costs. The few buses that ply the route cannot meet the transport woes that affect the people. In areas such as Kana and Gokwe, you have to wake up during midnight just to catch a bus, an ancient phenomenon whereby there was only one bus to service one route. What this means for the ordinary man in Nkayi-Gokwe is that they will have to walk on foot to access a hospital, schools, etc.

What these MP’s want are mere votes at the expense of development. For them the state of the road doesn’t bother them, because when they visit their remote, dilapidated constituencies, they will travel comfortably in their SUV’S and 4x4’s vehicles.
The need for community development such as having tarred roads does not bother them. At one point the MP for Gokwe-Kana, Ngwenya Busy, attempted to build a mortuary at Kana Mission Hospital when he won the election, but to date the development on the mortuary has since stopped.Noone has an explanation why the construction stopped. Most of the time he is seen by members of the community in his immaculate Isuzu 4x4 truck at Kana Mission Shops where he operates a grocery shop. No one, not even the revered community leaders from the headman to the chief can dare seek for an explanation from him for fear of being branded an MDC supporter and sellout.

Kana-Gokwe still lags behind in terms of real development, thanks to Econet which erected a booster at Kana Mission recently but the development in communication is not corresponded by infrastructural development.Sithembiso Nyoni can afford to abuse the people in her constituency by making false promises so as to win their support but her time of reckoning is nigh.

The false and deceptive meeting called by Nyoni reveal the deception of an incorrigible sell-out who has abandoned her constituency for the bogus luxuries that come with being an MP.So what development can she talk about when her own constituency lies in derelict? The people must vote wisely and give the boot to such tricksters. The people in Kana and Gokwe,have the power to change predicaments and circumstances, and this can be achieved by voting against such manipulative MP’s who have inflicted emotional pain and stress on them while they enjoy luxuries.

Gokwe-Kana is home for most of us, not an experimental ground for successive MP’s to carry out tests.

Rawlings Magede writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted on rawedge699@gmail.com who writes from Nkayi, Matabeleland North province.

WHO ARE THE REAL YOUTHS?

Over the years the Zimbabwe has witnessed many socio-political and economic changes. These changes have a direct effect on every age group. However, the most vulnerable group is the youth who remain at the mercy of circumstances. With the scourge of unemployment running rampant, many fall unsuspectingly into the trap of being used for other selfish means by politicians.
The youth constitute the majority of the population, this entails that whenever there is any economic haemorrhage and meltdown, and they are affected the most. Despite this, over the years, the youth have played servitude and prostration at the hands of politicians who have continued to use them as barricades against leadership change and renewal.
The problem we have in Zimbabwe today is that those in positions of leadership are not prepared to relinquish their privileges so as to accommodate the plight of the suffering masses ( youths included)such as dealing with the high rate of unemployment, either because of ideological deficiency and selfishness. Such elements turn to the youth for political survival. Zimbabwe has a wanton record of political led violence. Every time the country goes for elections, violence characterizes the process and it is a morass to a peaceful political transition. All this stifles the democratic process.

Despite having many organizations that purport to advance the concerns of the youth, the majority of youth remain vulnerable to manipulation by politicians. I am not sure if I should conclude that these organizations are not doing enough to advance and raise awareness among the relevant stakeholders. The youth remain unemployed and destitute and this means that as long as the youth remain unemployed, political violence can never be eradicated.
A telling example is the OLD mutual Youth Fund that was politicized from the beginning. To date many youths still live under false hope that their projects are still being considered. Despite the Ministry of Youth and empowerment stating that the agricultural sector received the largest allocation of funds under the Old Mutual Youth Development Fund that was being administered by CABS since 2009, it remains to be seen what the so-called agricultural projects will yield.Acccording to the ministry the agricultural sector received 34% of the grant, distribution took 315%,manufacturing 23%,service 11% and mining1%.The ordinary youth still questions the opaque manner in which the fund was disbursed. The mystery of why their project proposals were turned down continues to haunt many today.
The youth ministry also allege that the fund also benefitted youths from Nyanga, Mutare, Macheke,Bulawayo,Masvingo,Hwange and Gweru. If what the ministry is saying is anything to go by, then an audit of how the youth fund was disbursed is needed to find out if the process was not done in a partisan manner. The audit should be done by an independent commission made of members from civic society, youth leaders from communities and political parties. A cursory cross checking of facts reveals that the fund was abused or diverted for other “projects”.

Recent media reports suggest that The Zimbabwe Youth council that three quarters of the youth who benefitted from the fund diverted the money meant for projects. "Some of you are now asking the reason why we are have resorted to paying for what one would have applied to get for his or her project because the money is being diverted," Livingston Dzikira Zimbabwe Youth Council Director told reporters in Nyanga at the UNICEF workshop,

"So far from the people who have benefited, 70% of them have diverted the funds. Some have taken the loans to pay lobola and those are the same people you seem at public forums denouncing the program”. This reveals serious levels of corruption and graft. In the first place why was the process done secretly? Why did the ministry of youth not do a wide consultation across the country to assess the projects? If the youth council knows as Dzikira clearly states the names of people who abused the fund, what has his office done to deal with such gross abuse of funds?
The youth fund was politicized from from the beginning when Vice president Joice Mujuru officiated the programme under the watchful eye of Kasukuwere.This they saw an opportunity to drum up support for ZANU PF and revive its waning popularity. It’s a pity that most youths not aligned to ZANU actually wasted their time and resources coming with project proposals with the hope of having their proposals approved. It’s not given that half of the youth in the country are politically affiliated to any party, there are some who are just concerned about leading normal lives.

Livingston Dzikira admitted that as far as the disbursing of funds was concerned, he had no oversight and control whatsoever. Asked by reporters at the same occasion of his affiliation to Zanu-PF which has raised concerns by the public over how deserving youths benefit from youth empowerment programme Dzikira said he follows orders given to him by Saviour Kasukuwere, the minister of Youth Empowerment Minister who is Zanu-PF.

"I am an employee, who reports to the board and when the body is not present I give reports directly to the responsible Minister and it is impossible for you to separate me from that otherwise I get fired, "he said. In other words what he was saying is that the youth fund was meant for ZANU PF youths, all he does in his capacity as director is to process finalized suggestions of names from Kasukuwere.Why then did Old mutual and the ministry of youth bother the ordinary youth to apply for the fund when they knew that the fund was meant for ZANU PF youths? The youths had to scavenge for money to prepare and photocopy the project documents when in actual fact they were not qualified for the fund before they even applied.
One startling fact is that Kasukuwere is deputized by Tongai Matutu from MDC-T, the peoples’ part and party of excellence”. What is excellent about the MDC when it cannot question such an injustice as far as the disbursing of the youth fund is concerned.Matutu and his other comrades from the MDC are still obsessed with the luxuries of being in government that come with luxurious cars and bogus allowances while neglecting their role in government? The MDC ministers should not be anyone’s tool in government; they should at least denounce such injustices from within government. The reality within the Ministry of Youth is depressing; no backbone, no drives towards empowering youth save for those affiliated to ZANU PF.
Most youth organizations that claim to stand for the plight of the youth are just lily-livered opportunists united by money and the anti-Mugabe mantra but who remain mentally and materially beholden to other people who in most cases are politicians. The real youth that they claim to represent are just imaginary and non-existent. Many of them just play “a watch and see attitude” even whenever they should advocate.
Despite Zimbabwe being a signatory of many international conventions that respect the role of the youth in economic and political issues, Zimbabwean youths remain on the sidelines in as far as issues of governance and their welfare are concerned. The Zimbabwe Peoples Charter section on youth clearly states that;
“Believing that at all given times the youth, both female and male, represent the present and the future of our country and that all those in positions of leadership nationally and locally must remain true to the fact that our country shall be passed on from one generation to the next,
The People state that, in order for each generation to bequeath to the next a country that remains the epitome of hope, democracy and sustainable livelihoods, the following principles for the youth must be adhered to and respected:
The youth shall be guaranteed the right to education at all levels until they acquire their first tertiary qualification.
The youth shall be guaranteed an equal voice in decision-making processes that not only affect them but the country as a whole in all spheres of politics, the national economy and social welfare. •
The youth shall be guaranteed access to the right to health.
The youth shall not be subject to political abuse through training regimes that connote political violence or any semblance of propaganda that will compromise their right to determine their future as both individuals and as a collective.
The youth have the right to associate and assemble and express themselves freely of their own prerogative.”
The inclusive government has fallen short in addressing any of the tenets of the people’s charter. The principles in the peoples’ charter on youth are social welfaristic that harness together all the socio-economic ills that affect youths daily. The inclusive government continues to sideline the youth in issues such constitution reform, tertiary education, social welfare and health.
I am yet to understand what it means to be a youth in Zimbabwe. Does it mean that you must be a member of a political party youth wing that is used to unleash violence against an innocent, exposed and vulnerable electorate and be given trinkets as a form of reward or be a member of a youth organization where you are allowed certain priviledges?I don’t know. May the real youth stand up!!
Rawlings Magede writes in his personal capacity and can be contacted on rawedge699@gmail.com

Tracy Mutinhiri: Who is Fooling who?

                                                       

The recent media fever that gripped the nation about former ZANU PF women league political commissar, Tracy Mutinhiri, who was also a house of assembly member for Marondera East, joining MDC-T came not as a surprise to those who know the Zimbabwean political landscape very well. While many “celebrated" that  Mutinhiri had joined MDC-T, after being treated unfairly by ZANU PF ,Rugare Gumbo, the party’s spokesperson, had no kind words for her, he described her  as someone who had always worked against ZANU PF.

However, her deflection was   celebrated in the MDC-T to my utter amazement, of course her dismissal is testimony of the serious party squabbles and divisions within ZANU PF.The Zimbabwean political landscape has proved to us over and over that everyone who was once a member of ZANU PF is a suspect.Noone trusts them because even if their intentions are genuine, they remain public enemy number one.

 For example MP for Tsholotsho, Jonathan Moyo was kicked out of ZANU PF in 2004 after the infamous Tsholotsho declaration. The coming years saw Moyo turn into a fierce critic of Mugabe whom he once sang praise and worship hymns for on national television during his stint as information minister. He once compared Mugabe to a lame duck and even argued that even if Mugabe was to contest in an election, against a donkey, he would lose. He was later readmitted into the party and this time around he is now a critic of the MDC-T

This proves that politicians will never change, once a ZANU always a ZANU.The serious hero worship within Zanu on the person of Mugabe shows the gross demeaning bootlicking that is within the so-called revolutionary party. Honestly what is revolutionary about the party when it cannot deal with minor party disagreements, let alone succession? People don’t trust Moyo because of his ever changing political form. The same can be said about Simba Makoni, though unlike Moyo he hasn’t rejoined ZANU PF as yet, he remains suspect number one. Many still see his party Mavambo Kusile Dawn (MKD), as a mere ZANU PF creation meant to confuse the electorate. Though he has denied these claims, people never take him serious.

The same  can be said about  Dumiso  Dabengwa and Thenjiwe Lesabe who quit ZANU PF so that they could resuscitate PF ZAPU.For them their defection was met with hostility in matebeleland.Many still questioned why they didn’t quit ZANU earlier, why they neglected their region for so long and never brought meaningful change to matebeleland during their stay in ZANU.For many years they were in Mugabe’s government, they never  championed the concerns of Matebeleland through implementation of policies that would better their  people’s lives

.Even though PF ZAPU is revived as they say, many in Matabeleland still view them as sell-outs and heartless. Now another former Zanu PF person, Tracy Mutinhiri has been fired and maybe as a way of hitting back to her former party, decides to join their political opponents, MDC-T.While i have respect for Tracy Mutinhiri,i feel that her deflection to MDC-T leaves a lot to be desired. Is she joining the "party of excellence" because Zanu PF treated her unfairly or she has really seen Zanu PF for what it really is?.All these much ado about nothing questions remain unanswered for now, but if the truth be told what does she bring to the MDC?If she is to contest in the next election on an MDC ticket as what is being speculated, what does this mean for the MDC as a party? I strongly believe that Mutinhiri should take the bench for now while she ponders on her next political move. If she wants to join other former comrades whom she has worked with, like Makoni or Dabengwa she is most welcome to do so since they share the same concerns and identity. At least they would form a formidable force against ZANU PF which treated them "unfairly”. Why join people whom you fought against for many years and whose policies you were against?

Let us not fool each other; we have seen former ZANU people change form before us. Its just like saying that John Landa Nkomo has deflected to MDC.Honestly we are not fooled by such political games meant to confuse and misdirect people when voting. Maybe the comrades within the MDC-T can be fooled by welcoming Mutinhiri with open arms, but the people of Zimbabwe cannot. Only the politicians will be fooled since it’s a recurring game but not me, never! It is either you are with us, or you are against us! Rawlings Magede is political science student from Nkayi,Matebeleland North and can be contacted via email rawedge699@gmail.com

Unemployment and the politics of the purse

I have promised not to tell. I won’t, not even mutter a word for a single day concerning it. Never to open my mouth about it, lest I be labeled with all sorts of names. To Sum up this indecision of whether to say it or not, Joseph Goebbells,Hitler’s propaganda Minister of the time once said, “if one has to sell a lie as a factual truth to the public out there, one would have to repeat it as often as possible packaging it as truth”. Unlike Goebbels, who sold lies as truth to keep his job and please Hitler, I am going to package the truth as truth and repeat it as often as possible until those who care to listen, get involved one way or the other . I have no one to please or favour. Being called a women rights activist or feminist is of no consequence because whatever names you going to label me with, I will assume them because I believe my concerns are genuine. I won’t lose anything for telling it like it is because this is a fight that I have engaged in, voluntarily on my own, soberly. So why keep quiet to please you and safeguard the interests of those who continue to oppress and suppress people’s fundamental rights? She was raised from a well up family. The father is passed away when she was young. How she ended up what she is doing only, she can tell it better. The scourge of unemployment has pushed her to do all sorts of things. Of course one should never use that as an excuse to engage in all sorts of deviant behavior but at times the most vulnerable group to suffer from the effects of unemployment is women. Her parents divorced when she was only 12years and being raised by a single parent was tough. She managed to complete her secondary education and proceeded to University where she studied Social Work. She graduated in 2010 and getting a job since then has been a challenge. She lost her mother in a car accident during the beginning of 2011.The sole bread winner of the family was snatched from her life and getting a job was still impossible. Her mother’s relatives began to fend for her. This joy of having found a new home was short-lived as the relatives coerced with a wealthy man to marry her. As someone who had studied to university level, she refused. This was not welcomed by the relatives and they chased her away. Stranded as she was, she moved in with a friend in town and the rest is history. Today she is among those who go by street corners in the avenues areas selling their bodies for sex.She is not in this trade because she enjoys it but there is no other option. The truth of the matter however is that the Ministry of Youth Empowerment and Indigenization currently being led by SaviOr Kasukuwere is aware of the rate of unemployment but there seems to be dragging of feet on taking the problem head-on. The arcane implementation of the youth funds such as the one brokered by old mutual in 2011, have further fuelled speculation that within the ministry of youth empowerment and indigenization, favouratism is rife. What does it mean to be a youth? For you to get a youth grant must you be partisan or non-partisan? Should you have a violent past that is characterized by social deviancy and delinquency? The frustration over the lack of jobs has portrayed the ministry of youth empowerment and indigenization as the “ministry of youth unemployment”. There is urgent need among the youth to start a campaign against unemployment as a wake-up call to the ministry of youth and empowerment and government at large to act swiftly towards the availing of jobs. If it is government policy that is affecting the unavailability of jobs, then it has to be reviewed. Youths from across the political divide must wake up from the fairytale experience of having to be used by politicians at the expense of their own welfare and careers. The same problems that they continue to face will still be facing them while those they would have helped to settle a political score or garner votes don’t even care about their welfare. What is the Ministry of Youth indigenization and empowerment doing to improve the scourge of unemployment? What we have witnessed so far is the noise under the pretext of indigenization and empowerment? Who is being empowered? The so-called empowerment drive has yielded nothing but panic to companies. Investors have been scared from investing in our country and this led a increase in the rate of unemployment. Honestly how can funeral palours make lots of profit from people who are dying everyday from cholera and typhoid while government watches helplessly? The ministers in government are the elite of our time. The Ministry of Finance can afford to buy top of the range cars while the issue of civil servants remain unsolved. Our Ministers are not even ashamed to lead flamboyant lives while the majority of the population struggles to make it to the next day because of hunger. At a recent workshop that I attended recently Dr Lovemore Madhuku remarked that those in the inclusive government especially the MDC comrades are under the delusion that they have brought “stability” in the economy. The use of multiple currencies has made things to look like they have changed. In reality nothing has changed, things are still even worse for the man on the street. The rate of unemployment is still high but if anything can be said about our country, those in government will go down in history as the worst ever to govern this country. Our country continues to bleed from many vices chief among them, corruption.A time will come when those who continue to abuse their offices for personal gain, but for now, they are running down the country as if they own it alone. Many university graduates continue to loiter the streets in search of employment and those in government can afford to sit and watch helplessly.